Harvard University has filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Donald Trump for blocking billions of dollars in funding, the student newspaper Harvard Crimson reported.
The school accuses the country's leadership of waging an illegal and unconstitutional campaign "to punish Harvard in defense of its constitutional rights“.
“The compromise that Harvard and other universities have been asked to make is clear: Allow the government to micromanage your school or its ability to achieve medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries and innovative solutions will be jeopardized,“ the newspaper quoted the text of the lawsuit filed Monday in a Massachusetts court.
Harvard wants to be declared for illegally freezing $2.2 billion in funding, as well as any funds withheld due to “unconstitutional demands” contained in the Trump administration's letters to Harvard.
The university believes that the funding cutoff is intended to force the institution to change its system of governance, to review its academic programs and employment practices. This violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, the university believes.
The New York Times notes that the lawsuit names as defendants US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Attorney General and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. and a number of other officials.
On April 15, Trump proposed treating Harvard as a political organization and stripping it of its tax-exempt status. The Department of Education announced a freeze on $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard and $60 million in long-term contracts. Earlier, the US administration demanded changes to the school's policy on protecting Jewish students from anti-Semitism. According to The New York Times, Harvard tried to cooperate with the White House, but later the list of demands was expanded to include those that had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Harvard University President Alan Garber refused to fulfill them.